It is better to talk of health, progress, happiness, and success, than of the contrary things. It is better to think of the beautiful, truthful, inspiring, and ideal, than the opposite thoughts. It is better to be cheerful, confident, expectant, and enthusiastic than to indulge in destructive feelings. Knowing this, the right course is clearly open to you. Fill your daily life so full of constructive thoughts and ideals, that there will be no room for negative and depressing ideas. Confine your conversation to helpful, useful, encouraging subjects. Be generous in thought, word, act, and purpose. Make the world better for your being in it. Take a strong stand for truth and righteousness, and make every day count toward your eternal progress and happiness. – Grenville Kleiser, 1917
As Grenville Kleiser so eloquently stated in 1917, one of the keys to happiness is positive thought. Your outlook, your countenance, your mood, your relationships….. your entire life can be positively affected if you’ll make a practice of holding your thoughts accountable for themselves. Over the next few days, keep a conscious ear tuned into your thoughts. What do you spend the most time thinking about? Are these thoughts constructive or destructive? Do these thoughts make you happy to be alive and grateful for all that you have? Do they leave you feeling good about yourself? What effect do your thoughts have on your mood? Do your thoughts cause you to feel discouraged, sad, angry, bitter, or resentful?
Think about it this way: When we give our body a healthy diet of food that’s good for it, it rewards us by feeling good and operating the way it should. When we overeat or mistreat our bodies with a diet of junk food and things that aren’t healthy, we feel sluggish, out of sorts, and often have to run to the store for Pepto Bismol. Our mind and our emotions operate on the same type of system – our thoughts are the food that fuel them, for better or worse.
Give it a try. Over the coming days, force yourself to concentrate on MORE positive thoughts and fewer negative thoughts. When a negative thought creeps in, overpower it with a positive one. If your mind says, “I can’t possibly do this…” Turn the tables on it an replace the thought with, “I can’t possibly fail!”
I’ll tell you what will happen:
- You’ll smile more.
- You’ll feel happier.
- You’ll feel more fulfilled.
- You’ll have more confidence.
- People will be drawn to you.
- Nothing will seem impossible to you.
If that sounds like something you can live with, get started right now. Conjure up an incredibly positive and uplifting thought and stamp it across your brain. Think about the people, animals, places, and things that make you smile. Think about how grateful you are for each of them. Think about your positive traits and how thankful you are to possess them. Think about how bright your future is and how amazing the rest of 2010 is going to be.
It’s all good, right? Baseball season, grilling out, flower beds, and bird watching are all just around the corner. What’s not to smile about?!
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